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DESIGNERS BLOCK OBJECTS

I got inspired to make the small pine tables when I was experimenting at the workshop in Trysil.

I especially found the trees year-rings quite fascinating, and I wanted them to play and important role in an object.

Pieces of pine blocks are puzzled together and formed into shape in a lathe. The puzzle of the pine blocks with it’s year rings, forms a beautiful decorative pattern on the table top. In addition to the pattern, the surface also has a really nice tactile softness.

The shapes of the tables, are massive, but still neat and somehow funny awkward.

They got the name “Awkward” because they somehow look like silly clumsy mushroom animals.

Coat Stem

Coat Stem by Runa Klock

The silhouette of the Coat Stem resembles the Norwegian pine with its long stem and big crown is a mix of several of my tryouts from the workshop.

The fine dimensions create a more elegant look than how pine products traditionally have been used and like the wind always moves the trees branches, the Coatstem also changes appearance when used.

Family of tree

Family of Tree By Bjørn Blikstad

What if I used decaying wood?

Traditionally there are certain ways to handle pine, and certain way not to. When a log is cut down in the forest it should be collected before winter for further processing. If, by any chance the log is left by its own under the snow, when spring comes it would then have started its process of decay. This is, of course, a very slow process, but some effects of this will be visible even after one season. First, a fungus will attack the wood from the base up, leaving a blue, or sometimes almost black, trace. Then if this log is cut at the saw mill, and even planned, beautiful blue traces of what looks like blue dyed wood is mixed together with normal healthy wood. This has traditionally been a sign of bad craftmanship, and therefore nothing to be proud of.

Actually, there are no negative aspects of this regarding strength or quality, and is therefore interesting to see if one could use as a visual trait.

In order to let the material itself be the main carrier of aesthetical qualities, the shapes of the crates are kept as simple as possible, a part from slightly rounded edges.The crates, meant for simple bedside storage or for plants on top with books inside, exhibits different personalities: one small son, one teenage daughter and one parent. If you change the legs, a different set of personalities emerge, perhaps as a cousin, an emu and a VW Beetle?

It fun to think about the Family of Tree from decaying wood, as living dead - An Inquest!

Pine crane

Pine Crane / Lamp by André Sipilä

Inspired by model kits I have used pine in small dimensions in order to build something big.

The main challenge was to assemble the small parts, as they were strong load-bearing elements. It became a very different aesthetic than we're used to seeing in pine furniture. It is a technique I want to explore further in other objects.

Pine candy

Pine Candy by Runa Klock

Pine Candy are objects that could add value or change the meaning of the material. Does much-appreciated objects made in a material we “normally” don’t like confuse us or do we still love them? And what about the kids nowadays that hasn’t grown up surrounded by pine; do we perceive the objects differently?

Pine Candy are wooden toys for kids and grownups; lollipops, ice cream and sweets spun from solid wood. Pine is naturally antibacterial and perfect for dirty small hands and mouths.

Reversed head

Reversed head by Øyvind Blikstad

"What if carpentry noise was harmonic?"
I´m wondering; is the sound just a consequence of carpeting or may sound be used in the creative carpentry process?
This model has two audio outputs. The output at the round top plays the sounds used to make this model. All the machines and the noise they make. The other output, which is placed in the heart of the pine - "the twig mark" - plays an imaginary creating process with the same machines, but now arranged and played in harmony.When you know the consequence, how could we combine it in the creative process? How would things look like if we were just as concerned about the sounds as the visual aesthetics?

I wanted to continue working in the same way as I did on the wokshop, only bigger and with more focus on the texture of the material. My father and I cut down a big pine tree that we chopped up in three pieces, and put them together before I started carving. I made a frame in steel and tried to fit the logs into it. It was a difficult job because when working like this, you can´t undo it when you´ve chopped off a piece. I wanted to keep the pine as raw as possible, to show the patterns and the texture that became almost like fabric.

Blokk

Blokk by Lars Hole

The idea of ”Blokk” is to show the power of solid pine and how simple shapes can be connected to different tables and benches.

The products are treated with caustic soda and soap to keep the brightness of the pine tree. Cracks in the wood creates uniqueness of the products.

Pica tables

Pica tables by H&K Design presents a collection of small tables made of pine wood and Porcelain. At the surface the patina of the pine wood has been played with. Gold flakes shines through the traditional look. H&K design also worked with the question “what will happen if we draw directly on the pine?”, as if the illustrations where a part of the pine wood already. The company experimented on how to mix the softness of the pine wood in combination with the hard and fragile porcelain. The Porcelain has been “melted” into the pine wood with the handle of a mug left as a removable handle.